The invention relates to a sports game system in which a player feels as if he were enjoying a real sports game.
In conventional computer sports games such as baseball, soccer, cricket and tennis games, a player operates a joy stick while seeing an image on a monitor TV. However, he cannot enjoy the physical feeling of actual batting, hitting or kicking. This is unavailable because of the limitation of space. On the other hand, there are games such as auto race games in which an actual driving is simulated. For example, five game machines are connected with each other so that a player for each game machine can enjoy the auto race even with strangers. This kind of real experience type games appear to become more popular in the future.
Furthermore, a baseball game will now be explained. In a conventional batting cage, a player simply hits a ball thrown by a pitching machine. It is difficult to hit a ball at a good timing because he only knows the timing to be thrown from the pitching machine by watching the lighting of a lamp on the pitching machine. This is widely different from an actual baseball game. There is, in the market, a baseball game in which an image of a pitcher is projected on a screen in a synchronism with the pitching machine. In this baseball system, it requires a darken room because the images must be projected on the screen in a dark environment. On the other hand, a bright room is necessary for hitting ball at a speed of 135 km per hour and more. In this case, it is necessary to cover the screen to prevent light from coming in. This cover around the screen can be obstacle for a ball hit by the player. There is also a problem of wrinkled screen and distorted image on the screen. Some game systems utilize an LED monitor to avoid such problems. The LED monitor is bright enough, but it is fairly expensive and does not have a good resolution.
It is an object of this invention to provide a sports game system in which a player can feel as if he were in a real game.
According to this invention, there is provided a sport game system in which a player uses ball, comprising an area sensor means for measuring speed and location, in a play field, of a ball hit or kicked by a player; a display means for showing at least a location, in the play field, of the ball; and a controller for controlling said area sensor means and said display means.